


let me pretend for a little while longer

by fiveminutemajor



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Boyfriend for Hire, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Feelings Realization, M/M, avs social put a gun to my head and said write burakinnon, burakinnon, coffee as a plot device, no You hang up, that awkward moment when you're fake dating your bro but everyone thinks you're actually dating, you hang up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-24 22:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22005490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiveminutemajor/pseuds/fiveminutemajor
Summary: in which andre needs a boyfriend and nate happens to be therealternativelynate likes andre and jumps at the chance to date him (even if it's not for real)
Relationships: Andre Burakovsky/Nathan MacKinnon
Comments: 8
Kudos: 178





	let me pretend for a little while longer

**Author's Note:**

> normal stuff like:  
> \- if you or anyone you know are mentioned in this fic, click away now! this is purely fiction.  
> \- i actually kind of like this fic wow crazy  
> \- i know close to nothing about the capitals please be patient  
> \- thank you to ki and jo for helping me figure out nate's incredibly important coffee order

Andre was panicking. He never, ever thought before he spoke and now it was coming back to bite him. Look, he knew it was a stupid thing to say as soon as it left his mouth. He probably could have recovered after the first time, but when Tom started asking questions Andre just dug himself a deeper hole. It’s not his fault that Tom is just so incessantly nosy and needs to know every little detail of Andre’s personal life. Andre just happened to get… tired of Tom’s prying. 

The last time they had talked, Tom had asked if Andre had a boyfriend in Denver yet (which he didn’t), like he did every single time. It wouldn’t have been a big deal if Andre was actually paying attention to the call, but he was in the car and a saint bernard was on the sidewalk so he got distracted and accidentally said yes. Once he realized what he said, it was too late. Tom rattled off a list of about thirty different questions varying from “is he good in bed?” (oh my god Tom, stop) to “what’s his favorite food?” (I don’t know Tom). Andre eventually just had to hang up to stop the tirade of questions and received a long string of angry and suggestive emojis in response.

Andre had nearly forgotten about the incident until he checked his phone after an optional morning skate. There was a text from Tom that read “when we’re in town in a couple weeks, you and your boyfriend will meet us for dinner. no protesting.”

Oh. Andre hadn’t thought that far ahead. He would try and get out of it, but when Tom got his mind set on something there wasn’t much anyone could do about it. Therefore, panicking ensued. Where was he going to find a guy willing to meet a rowdy team of intimidating hockey players and be his boyfriend on top of it? Or at least, pretend to be his boyfriend. Maybe he could pay someone? Or would that be prostitution? 

Nate must have noticed something was up, because he plopped down in the empty stall next to Andre. 

“You alright, bud?” He asked, and Andre looked up from his phone. That was probably a mistake. Nate was sitting there looking all too concerned and all too shirtless. It’s not like Andre had a crush on Nate (but being honest, who doesn’t), but he was bi and had eyes. Realizing he was probably being awkward by staring at Nate’s chest, Andre snapped his gaze up to Nate’s eyes.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. No issues, no problems, I am good.” 

“You sure? Doesn’t sound like it.” 

“Okay, there might be one small problem.” Andre relented and showed Nate the text from Tom. He read over the screen and scrunched his face in confusion.

“Is the problem that you’re bi and the rest of the guys don’t know? I know you told me and Gabe and EJ, but-”

“No! Nate, everyone knows that, the problem is that I don’t have that boyfriend that Tom’s talking about!” Andre ran his hand through his curls and leaned back into the stall.

“Oh. Well then why does he think you do?” Nate looked more confused than before.

“Because I told him that I did!” Andre sat forward and looked at Nate. “Why am I so stupid?” 

“Hey, we’ll figure this out. Why can’t you just tell Tom the truth?” Nate said. Andre gave him a sideways glare and he chuckled. “Okay, so why don’t you just go find a boyfriend?”

“Yeah, right, like I have the time. I don’t even need a real boyfriend, just someone who’s willing to go to dinner with me and like, six to ten other guys.” Nate made a face. “Yeah, that’s unlikely too. So basically I’m screwed.” Nate turned away from Andre and mumbled something. “What? You magically have a solution to my problem?”

“I said I could go with you.”

“You- you what?”

“I could be your fake boyfriend or whatever.” Nate was clearly trying very hard to not look at Andre.

“Oh, um, okay. It would be easier-” 

“Yeah. Easier.”

“Okay, cool.” Andre could feel a weight lifted off his chest as he shot Tom a quick thumbs up.

“Cool.”

-

They didn’t talk about it for a couple days until Nate called him on their off day. 

“So I was thinking-” he started off with.

“Oh no, how terrible!” Andre teased.

“Shut up.” Nate said, but Andre could hear the fondness in his voice. “I was thinking about the whole. Fake boyfriend thing.” Before Andre could panic again, he quickly continued. “I mean, I’m still gonna do it, obviously. I just think, would Tom maybe ask the team about it? Like, we should probably tell the team we’re like, a thing.”

“Oh, well-”

“You mentioned that Tom asked a bunch of questions and I think he’d probably ask like, Gabe or someone about, you know, us. I figured we should tell the team we’re for real, just in case.”

“Yeah, makes sense.” Andre agreed and Nate let out a breath. 

“Okay, so, next practice? How do you want to tell them?”

“It doesn’t matter, that’s up to you.” 

“Cool. Cool.” Nate paused. “We should probably be like, affectionate with each other or whatever. They have to believe it, you know?”

“For sure.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Andre sucked in a breath. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yep.”

“Cool.”

“Okay, um, bye.”

“Bye.”

-

Practice the next day was interesting to say the least. Nate got there uncharacteristically late, but Coach Bednar was in a good mood and didn’t punish him. During practice Nate was laser focused like usual, and Andre didn’t get a chance to talk to him.

Andre got his chance though, when they were going off the ice after practice was over. Nate was standing by the bench, helmet off and drinking some water. Andre took his helmet off as well and just before leaving the ice, he skated up to Nate. 

“Hey,” Nate said, “what’s up?” Andre didn’t say anything, instead he leaned over to gently kiss Nate’s cheek. A surprised strangled sound came from Nate’s throat and he flushed.

“I’m being ‘affectionate or whatever’!” Andre said brightly and left the ice.

In the locker room it was made apparent that no one had really seen Andre’s display of affection and for some reason that made him happy. It was just for the two of them. Even though it didn’t mean anything, they were fake boyfriends, it was fine. After all of the guys were mostly out of their gear but before anyone hit the showers (to maximize attention), Nate made eye contact with Andre and raised his eyebrow as if to ask “now?” Andre nodded and Nate got up and walked over to him.

“How are we going to-” Andre asked, but he was cut off by Nate’s mouth on his. Andre instantly melted into the contact and was just starting to lean in for more when Nate pulled back. “Oh, like that.” Andre said breathlessly and leaned his forehead on Nate’s. Nate smiled and they just sort of looked at each other for a moment. There was a tender breath between them and Nate threaded his arm around Andre’s waist before a throat was cleared.

“Okay that’s cute and all, but $50. Both of you.” EJ said, and all the warmth from their shared moment was gone. 

“Cut them some slack, they finally decided to tell us.” Gabe chastised EJ.

“Finally?” Andre squeaked out.

“Well, duh. You guys aren’t sneaky with your little glances and gettin’ all touchy feely.” Josty said, making some wild hand gestures to go along with it. 

“So, you knew about… us,” Nate said, gesturing between him and Andre, “this whole time.”

“Yeah, you guys ain’t slick.” JT added without looking up from untying his skates. Andre felt his face heat up and he ducked his head.

“Oh. Huh.” Nate said and squeezed Andre’s waist for a moment before letting go.

“If your now-public love fest is over, I’m gonna hit the showers.” EJ said, and got up to do just that. 

-

It was a couple of days later when Nate suggested that they go on a couple dates and start carpooling to practice to solidify their stories. Andre agreed and it became a routine. Nate would pick Andre up on his way to practice because “you drive like you’re playing mario kart and I will never get in a car with you in the driver’s seat.” 

They started out getting coffee on the way to the rink, but after a couple times in the Starbucks drive-thru line Andre started making it for both of them. Andre surprised Nate the first time, sliding into the passenger side of his car with two travel mugs of hot coffee. One with more milk and sugar than actual coffee and the other with almond milk and the tiniest dash of sugar. Nate had looked at Andre with an unreadable yet impossibly fond expression after he explained that he knew how Nate liked his coffee and “it’s just easier this way.”

Dating Nate - fake dating - was easy. They went to cafes for breakfast on days that they didn’t have a morning skate. It wasn’t that much different than their relationship had been before the whole fake boyfriend thing, now there was just added “touchy-feely” stuff, as Josty had said. 

There were times when Nate would put his hand on Andre’s thigh in the car or Andre would hug Nate from behind and rest his chin on Nate’s shoulder. Little gestures between the two of them that no one else saw. There honestly wasn’t a reason for them - there was no one around to convince - but it felt comfortable. It felt right. 

One night, a few days before the Caps would be in town, Nate texted Andre a simple “dinner?” Of course Andre agreed and like usual, Nate picked him up and they headed to a smaller restaurant in the suburbs to avoid any possible fans. Nate looked a little more nervous and distracted than usual, so when they were seated at a booth, Andre took the opportunity to slide in next to him instead of across.

“Hey.” Nate said, looking down at his hands folded on the table.

“Hey. You alright?” Andre asked, placing a hand on Nate’s.

“You have to know by now.”

“Know what?” Andre cocked his head and Nate finally met his eyes. 

“This isn’t fake to me anymore. I don’t think it ever was fake to me.” And, oh. Andre definitely wasn’t expecting that. His face must have betrayed his disbelief because Nate looked away again.

“Hey,” Andre used his hand to gently turn Nate’s head back, “hey.” The corner of Nate’s mouth downturned slightly and Andre gently rubbed his thumb over it. He didn’t know how it happened, or who initiated it, but suddenly they were kissing. For real this time, not the hesitant peck that first day in the locker room. Andre’s hands found their way to either side of Nate’s head and urged him on. 

Andre never believed people when they said they felt sparks. Kissing Nate though, he understood. It felt like electricity was coursing through his veins, excitement like he’d just scored a playoff game-winning goal. Suddenly it all clicked. This was what he wanted, Andre wanted Nate. He pulled away slowly, and leaned his forehead against Nate’s. 

“Yeah, um, okay.” Nate said. Andre laughed softly and adjusted himself so the two of them were pressed together from shoulder to ankle. 

“Maybe instead of being my fake boyfriend, you should be my real boyfriend.” Andre said, leaning his head on Nate’s shoulder.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”

-

Dinner with the Caps was upon them and Nate and Andre were buzzing with the win. Both of them had scored a goal against the Caps and the adrenaline was flowing freely. Andre had decided to host the boys at his house, seeing as they would probably get kicked out of a restaurant. Right as Andre clicked order on the delivery food, there was a loud knock at the door.

“Wait here.” He told Nate, and went to let the boys in. As soon as he opened the door, Andre was enveloped in a massive hug.

“Burky! How are you! Haven’t seen you in an hour! Where’s your boyfriend?” Tom asked, hands on Andre’s shoulders.

“Hey, I’m great, he’s inside.” At that, Tom let go and walked down the hall to the living room. The rest of the group of seven followed and Andre received several claps on the shoulder. Andre shut and locked the door behind them when he heard an indignant squawk that probably came from Tom.

“Andre Burakovsky! When were you going to tell me you’re dating Nathan fucking Mackinnon!”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! kudos/comments really make my day so if you choose to do so, thank you!!
> 
> the world needs more burakinnon in it
> 
> anyways, yeehaw lads


End file.
